SECTION THREE - TEACHINGS ON INITIATION - Part 1

SECTION THREE - TEACHINGS ON INITIATION

SECTION THREE

TEACHINGS ON INITIATION

[243]

PART I

Prior to profiting by more
information and thus piling up increased responsibility, there is a vital need
for the majority of aspirants and disciples to assume a different attitude
towards the opportunity to prepare for initiation with which they are all
faced. The more advanced among them are conscious of impending possibilities.
The significance of the proffered training has made its just appeal. Others are
so immersed in the tests and difficulties incidental to the clarification of
the vision prior to the processes of initiation, that they have neither the
time nor the strength to do more than live through the time of trial and, at
the same time, to serve as best they can. Both the vision and their service
suffer from their failure to develop that divine indifference which is the
hallmark of the true initiate. Added to all this is the world situation
with its inevitable all-enveloping psychic atmosphere, its attendant strains
and its constant wearing anxiety, plus the hold which war sufferers have on all
hearts and sympathies. Most aspirants and disciples believe that they are
bearing enough and are tried to the limit of their capacity. This is not the
case. The deeper sources of strength in them have not yet been evoked, and the
tension under which they should act and live from day to day is only as yet a
feeble one—it is not all-exacting. Ponder on this last phrase.

The objective demands being
made upon all disciples and therefore upon all of you, are not simply to enable
you to live through the present period as successfully—emotionally, mentally
and spiritually—as possible. It goes far deeper than that, or should. Apart
from the demands upon your spiritual resources (incident to the particular
initiation which it is desired that you take) there is also the demand upon all
[244] disciples
to participate in the effort of humanity, as a whole, to take the first
initiation with all the physical relinquishments, and the agony that ever
precedes the birth of the Christ in the heart of the individual—only this time
it is the hearts of all humanity. Preparatory to this first initiation, there
has always to be—individually and now collectively for the first time—the denial
of the lower self and the fervid acceptance by the personality of the loss of
all the material factors which have held the soul a prisoner in the womb of
time.

Hence, my brothers, the wide
extent of the material destruction to be seen on every hand, the depths of
physical poverty into which all men have been and are being plunged, the
detachment from the priority of things which is being enforced, and the
necessity for rebuilding human life on sounder values than the physical. In all
this disciples and initiates are today sharing and (when understanding is
present and right orientation) the help which those can give who have already
undergone the first initiation, is great. To this you are called, and upon your
understanding response to the collective need will depend the rapidity with
which you will be enabled to achieve the next expansion of consciousness or
initiation which may be, for you as an individual, possible. You have,
therefore, to consider your individual response to the demands of your own soul
and your collective response to the collective need. It is the initiate in you,
the Christ in you, which is now called to this collective service and the
radiation today of the Christ spirit, actively present in the hearts of all
disciples is the one thing which can salvage mankind, enable humanity to move
forward on to the Path of Discipleship and thus evoke that new spirit which can
and will build the new world.

I would like to deal somewhat
with the theme anent the attitude of the accepted disciple towards his Master
and towards the general subject of initiation, and then consider the immediate
steps ahead which the disciple must take, where he is and with what equipment
he has. This is the first and necessary step. Disciples must clarify their
position and must continue to learn from their Master, in spite of [245] the crises
of initiation. Unless they act upon the proffered instruction and have
confidence in His occult intention, all that the Master may say or do is of
small usefulness. It serves only to increase grave responsibility with its
attendant liabilities; knowledge and the pressure of spiritual energy become a
danger if not used. This is a basic and important statement.

There are, my brothers, two
major prerequisites which are needed by all of you in connection with group
integration, and they follow upon what you have had earlier when I sought to
help you to integrate with your brothers. I gave you, as you will recall, as
part of your group meditation the following simple integrating formula:

"I am one with my group
brothers, and all that I have is theirs. May the love which is in my soul pour
forth to them. May the strength which is in me lift and aid them. May the
thoughts which my soul creates reach and encourage them."

Of the two prerequisites to
which I now allude as needed by all of you, one of them refers to your
integration into my group of "practising chelas," and the other
relates to your capacity to contact me at will—a thing as yet only permitted to
three of you at this time, and this because they seldom avail themselves of the
privilege. Our first task is therefore to attend to these requirements which
call for a right attitude on your part and the use of the first of the ancient
formulas which it is my intention to give for deep consideration and eventual
experimental use. Before I give this formula, however, I would like to deal
with a question which is bound to arise in the minds of those of you who are
senior in this group.

The question might be voiced
thus: "If I am in preparation for the second or the third initiation, I
must have been in a group of disciples—presumably the Tibetan's—for some lives
at least. Why then the need for an integrating formula?" Because, my
chela, though you have been in a group of disciples prior to this, it was not
my group but [246] the
group of either the Master M. or the Master K.H. Owing to the fact of world
urgency and the immensity of the work to be done by Them and owing also to the
fact that They are preparing to pass through one of the highest initiations,
these two Masters have handed all but a few of Their senior disciples to me and
to two other of Their initiate disciples, themselves Adepts or Masters. They
have also retained in Their groups of disciples those who have started specific
work under Their direction in some previous life, and a few disciples who came
into incarnation in this world period having the brain and the mind awakened to
their relationship to these Masters. These conditions do not exist in this group
in relation to me—the Master chosen to lead you forward. Yet (though you
remember it not) all of you knew me well when working with the two Chohans, and
hence the decision for you to work under my instruction and guidance. It has
worked happily and with no delay so far.

Another reason for the use of
this formula of integration by those who have had experience of group work is
that there are some in the group who are as yet far from true integration, and
the experience of the older chelas can be of inestimable help if they will thus
to serve the group and me. Much of what I said in the earlier instructions
(Vol. I) on the relation of chelas to their Master could well be applied here
and with profit.

THE FORMULAS

There are six ancient
formulas or symbolic forms which are to be found in the archives for disciples.
They concern the six fundamental prerequisites for initiation. They are used
prior to all the major initiations, and have therefore five significances or
meanings which will become apparent only as each of these initiations is
undergone. They are in the form sometimes of symbols and sometimes of words,
and are amongst the oldest formulas in the world. They have been used down the
ages by all disciples and initiates of the Great White Lodge. They concern what
are called "the six [247] relations." Each of these relations must find
expression in attitude, in service, and in some deeper expansion of
consciousness, to which I may not refer but which must be self-ascertained. It
is essential that the would-be initiate discover for himself the esoteric,
inner and subjective value of the formula under his consideration. Just one
hint however in this latter connection I may give.

The disciple, when he becomes
an accepted disciple (and this through the Lodge's recognition of his pledge to
his own soul), arrives at a definite and factual recognition of the Hierarchy.
His suppositions, his desires, his aspirational wish-life, his theories, or
whatever you may choose to call his reaching out and up towards divinity, give
place to clear knowledge of the liberated group of souls. This happens not
through the occurrence of convincing phenomena, but through an inflow of the
intuition. He undergoes, therefore, an expansion of consciousness which may or
may not be registered in the brain. Every step of the way from that point of
recognition onward has to be consciously achieved and must involve a conscious
recognition of a series of expansions. These expansions are not initiation.
Have that clearly in your mind. The initiation lying immediately ahead is
simply the effect of the recognition. They might be called "stabilising
points of crisis," in which the "occasional becomes the constant and
the intended becomes the intentional." Ponder on these words. The Hierarchy
is now a fact in your life and your awareness. What is the next fact or point
of integration or consciously achieved inclusiveness? A study of the formulas
and their correct use will reveal this to you. I have laid the emphasis upon
visualisation and given you some hints connected both with initiation and the
creative work of the imagination, because these teachings and the development
of these faculties will require calling into play your understanding, if the
formulas connected with initiation are to be given. These six formulas are
therefore formulas of integration, and one or two hints may here be imparted.

Formula One concerns, as I have told you, integration into a
Master's group, and it has two uses—if I might so [248] express it
from your particular point of view. One produces a group inclusiveness, which
integrates you with your group brothers into my group and brings a revelation
of the hidden side of a chela's life. When I say this I refer to his new astral
conditioning. This is given the name of the Revelation of Group
Feeling. This subject is vaster in its implications than you might surmise,
for it concerns united group sensitivity or response, outwards to the world of
men, inwards to the Hierarchy, and upwards to the Monad. It does not concern
the sum total of the petty moods and feelings of the personalities of the group
members. Its second use is to bring about contact with the Master of your
group—in this case myself, the Master D.K. This is a process which I have
already done my best to help you to achieve through my instructions re the Full
Moon contact—something you have most inadequately understood and attempted.
Perhaps now you will work harder at the production of "contact
relationship" as it is esoterically called. It is with Formula One that
you must now work.

Formula Two deals with alignment; not alignment as it is
understood in the very necessary preparatory work of the Arcane School. That
form of alignment is the production of effective and direct contact with the
soul. The alignment to which this formula refers is connected with the
antahkarana. This will be our next consideration when Formula One has brought
about certain changes in consciousness. I shall not consider these formulas at
present. I will only point out their major implications which will be seldom
what you think, conditioned as you are by the terms and interpretations of the
lower mind.

Formula Three is related to certain changes in the egoic lotus.
These changes might be inadequately expressed in the terms of the Old
Commentary:

"There is that which
transmutes knowledge into wisdom within a flash of time; there is that
which changes sensitivity into love within an area of space; there is [249] that which
alters sacrifice into bliss where neither time nor space exists."

Formula Four has a specific effect upon the "jewel in the
lotus," awakening it to life; this it does (through effects produced) upon
the three planes of the three worlds, thus bringing about changes in the seven
wheels (centres) so that the "dynamic point at the centre of each wheel
obliterates the lesser points of force, and thus the wheel begins to turn upon
itself."

Formula Five awakens the Will, but any interpretation of
this awakening would prove meaningless to you until the previous four formulas
have established an effect upon you and the needed interior changes have taken
place.

Formula Six is sometimes called "the word of death." It
negates the destructive effect of the death process which is going on all the
time within the mechanism of the disciple or initiate. The death proceeds with
its needed work, but it is not destructive in effect. This formula has
never been given out before to disciples, but can now be known because the
Piscean Age is one in which at last the power of physical death is definitely
broken and the signature of the Resurrection is revealed. In this esoteric
negation of death are the deeply hidden and impressive causes of the two
stages of the world war (1914-1945), and in this formula lies the significance
lying behind the "fight for freedom" of the peoples of the world. It
is sometimes called "the formula of liberation."

If you
were a disciple who had access to the archives wherein instructions for
disciples are contained, you would be confronted (in relation to the six
formulas referred to above) by six large sheets of some unknown metal. These
look as if made of silver and are in reality composed of that metal which is
the allotrope of silver and which is therefore to silver what the diamond is to
carbon. Upon these sheets are words, symbols, and symbolic forms. These, when
related to each other, contain the formulas which the disciple has to interpret
and integrate in his waking consciousness. This must be done through the medium
of living processes. [250] As
I cannot show you these formulas upon the physical plane, the best that I can
do is to describe them to you, and in this Instruction I will seek to describe
Formula One. The comprehension of the words and symbols produces two reactions
in the consciousness of the disciple—and when a group of disciples are working
with the same formula (as is the case in this group) this is intensified and of
still greater value.

The first reaction is called
the "Formula of Revelation" and is related to the united sensitivity
of the group. As, together, the group members brood upon and come to an
understanding of the formula, they will swing into a responsiveness to the
feeling and sensitive reactions of the individuals in the group, and these,
together, constitute and form the astral body of the group.

When this reaction has been
established (and a spirit of non-criticism and of love will greatly aid in the
process), the group together can arrive at the second purpose of the formula,
which is called "the discovery of the point within the circle." This
signifies—as far as the group is involved—the revelation of the central
coherent force of the group itself. This is—at the same time and until after
the higher initiation which we call the fourth initiation—the Master at the
centre of the group. This is, consequently, the correspondence to the
"jewel in the lotus," where the individual is concerned, to the
Hierarchy, where humanity is concerned, and to the central point of life in all
forms. Of form and of consciousness, the circle and the point are the natural
symbols. This applies equally to the atom, to man, to the planet and to the
solar system. The concept must constitute the foundational idea in all
reflection upon this formula.

Now for the formula itself:

"A line of fire between
two blazing points. A stream of water blue—again a line—emerging from the
earth—and ending in the ocean. A tree with root above and flowers below.

[251]

"Out of the fire, and
always at the midway point, appears the eye of God (Shiva). Upon the stream,
between the two extremes, there floats the eye of vision—a thread of light
unites the two.

"Deep in the tree,
between the root and flowers, the eye again is seen. The eye that knows, the
eye that sees, the directing eye—one made of fire, one fluid as the sea, and
two which look from here to there. Fire, water and the earth—all need the vital
air. The air is life. The air is God."

The significance of this
formula is not difficult for the advanced student to grasp in connection with
himself. The eye of knowledge, the eye of vision and the directing eye of Deity
are familiar to him. But it is the great and major esoteric implications which
I ask you to consider. An extension of these concepts to a Master and His
ashram or His group of practising disciples, is of value to you in your
reflective consciousness. The first and obvious interpretation concerns the eye
of knowledge. But what of the eye of vision when duality is being overcome,
and what of the "purpose for which the worlds were made"—the little
world of the individual (once individuality is achieved) and the greater world
of an organised group, integrated and functioning as a unit, and the distant
subtle world of divine intent?

I say no more in this
connection. I commend to your brooding reflection these subtle implications. I
would ask you to ponder on them and—prior to the Wesak Full Moon—I would ask
you to write your understanding of the formula from two angles. About these two
angles you definitely should have ideas.

1. The angle of the
individual.

2. The angle of a group of
chelas.

Both these unities utilise
the eye of knowledge and the eye of vision.

[252]

PART II

POINTS OF REVELATION

I have dealt considerably in
my earlier writings with the theme, Points of Crisis. We can now approach and
prove the livingness of our progress from the angle of Points of Revelation.
The entire objective of the initiation preparatory process is to bring about
revelation. You must ever bear in mind that that which is revealed is eternally
present. There is, therefore, occult truth in the statement that there is
"nothing new under the sun." All that is revealed upon the Path of
Discipleship and of Initiation is forever there, but that which can perceive,
reach out and include has developed with the ages. Upon the Path of
Discipleship, in the earlier stages, the eye of vision is the illumined mind.
Upon the Path of Initiation it is that of which the eye of the mind is the
exteriorisation—the intuitional perception of the soul itself. But as evolution
proceeds, that which is brought to the point of perceiving the existing
verities differs vastly as the centuries slip away. E'en the adept of the
present is pronouncedly more perceptive and more accurately interpretive and
his vision more penetrative than was the adept in Atlantean days, and the
initiate who will achieve initiate-perception during the coming Aquarian Age
will be greatly in advance of those who now function as the adepts of today.

I have warned you that
discipleship is becoming increasingly difficult. This is owing to the increased
sensitivity to the esoteric values and realities which the modern disciple
manifests. He can and does perceive that which was the goal of initiation in
earlier aeons and perceives these things normally and as an established fact in
a developed awareness. It is the spiritual parallel of the development during
material evolution of the five senses. His goal and his "pointed
direction" lie far ahead and his inclusiveness opens for him doors which
in earlier times only opened to the initiate knock. I consequently hold out to
you no easy way but only one of difficulty and adjustment.

[253]

In all forward stages upon
the Path of Initiation, there are three phases which concern the
initiate-aspirant's reactions. There is first of all the vision of the soul,
but whereas in the past there was the vision and the starting point, now the
modern disciple perceives likewise many of the intermediate stages, the
opposing forces, the obstructions and the rapidly arousing handicaps and
hindrances. The words I here use are chosen with deliberation. He is not now totally
blind nor does he move forward entirely in the dark. There is enough light in
him to bring to him what is called the "little revelation," and, in
that light, will he see the greater light and arrive at a truer perception. He
sees himself, and that—for aeons—the disciple has ever been able to do. But now
he also perceives and recognises his brother in the light, and this evokes
personality reactions and he has to adjust himself not only to himself as he
discovers himself to be, but likewise to what he finds his brother also to be.
This is no easy adjustment to make, and this the earlier imparted Rules of
the Road [xv]*
will have indicated to you.

I would like here, my
brother, to list for you the most important of the statements made by me in the
previous instruction, indicating those which embody important hints and showing
you, this one time, with what care I prepare that which I seek to impart and
how, therefore, I expect from you a careful study of my words. Here are these
key thoughts:

1. Only that which you know
for yourself and consciously experience is of importance. This refers
especially to the following:

a. Your perception of the
vision.

b. Your contact with me, your
Master.

c. Your recognition of the
initiatory process.

I told you, therefore, that
you must have (for the goal) the demonstrating of the initiate-consciousness
through both mind and brain and consequently upon the physical plane.

[254]

2. Initiation is, as far as
you are at present concerned, a "moment of crisis wherein the
consciousness hovers upon the border line of revelation." This involves
consequently:

a. A tremendous pull between
the pairs of opposites.

b. The existence, as a
result, of a field of tension.

c. The effort to stand firm
at the midway point.

I would remind you that this
does not refer to the man upon the path of life, pulled as he is between the
pairs of opposites upon the plane of desire, but to the soul standing at the
midway point between the monad and the personality and preparing to make the
Great Renunciation—a renunciation which the personality makes possible—and to
disappear, leaving the two (personality and monad) perfectly at-one. It is the
man, as the soul, in full waking consciousness who takes initiation. Hence the
emphasis upon soul contact when a man is upon the Probationary Path and passing
through the early stages of discipleship. This leads, later, to the emphasis
placed upon the need for two major activities—before the man can take the
higher initiations:

a. Upon alignment.

b. Upon the scientific
building of the antahkarana.

3. The revelation, given to
the initiate, is not a vision of possibilities, but a factual experience,
leading to:

a. The evocation of new
powers.

b. The recognition of new
modes and fields of service.

c. Freedom of movement within
the bounds of the Hierarchy.

d. New hierarchical contacts
and new responsibilities which face the initiate.

He, therefore, realises what
St. Paul meant when—talking in hierarchical terms—he said "All things are
become new." It is not simply a question of vision and contacts but of
vital interrelation and of recognition which bring with them insight into the
Mind of God.

[255]

4. Four lines of teaching
were emphasised in past centuries and up until the year 1875:

a. Hints as to the changing
of personality character as preparatory to initiation.

b. Teaching as to the oneness
of Deity and of the universal order.

c. Instruction as to the
creative process.

d. Laya yoga or the yoga of
energy, working through force centres.

Two things must now happen:
the imparted theories which have guided the disciple's thinking hitherto must
become practical experiences, and there must be such a shift in consciousness
that the present vision must become the past experience and a new and deeper
and entirely different recognition must take the place of the old goals. Here
comes, consequently, a complete test-out of past hierarchical methods and modes
of work. Has what the past has given proved an adequate preparation for that
which will be the methods and propositions of the future? Have the foundations
of truth been so securely settled that the coming superstructure will be based
on such a sound reality that it can stand the impact of the new incoming solar
and cosmic forces? Will the past work of the Hierarchy stand? Such are the
problems with which the initiate-teachers are today faced.

Just as the attitudes of the
disciple to daily living and to world happenings are totally unlike that of the
average man because he is living increasingly in the world of meaning, so the initiate-disciple
develops an attitude to living processes and to world events which is based on
character (necessarily), interpreted in the world of meaning, but to them he
brings a different light to bear and a motivation—based on newly acquired
knowledge and understanding—which is entirely different to the two previous
conditions. The four lines of teaching are taken for granted; the initiate is
supposed to have grasped and mastered all of it in some experimental and
experiential measure. Now the new formulas of life must control; they are life
formulas, not [256] soul
formulas. New knowledge must supersede the old and it will not concern that
which has hitherto been regarded as the ultimate goal.

An illustration of this is
the fact that to the esotericist of the past little was known of the seven Rays
and the seven ray types, and naught had been given out anent Shamballa. Now the
world of instructed disciples is slowly awakening to these newer values and
truths and to the sevenfold source of life expression; the Will of God is going
to take shape consciously in the minds of men in the future in such a manner
that the old truths will condition and control as never before, but will drop
automatically below the threshold of consciousness and the new emerging values
and recognitions will take their place in the surface consciousness of all
disciples—and their name will be Legion.

5. The astral body provides
no hindrance to the initiate-disciple, but provides a medium of facile contact
with the Hierarchy. This is due to the fact that the link between the astral
body and the buddhic consciousness becomes at this stage increasingly close.
They constitute essentially a pair of opposites which will eventually fuse;
then the astral body will disappear as does the soul body at a later stage of
development.

6. Every disciple has to
discover for himself and alone for which initiation he is being prepared; the
Master never gives this information. Light on the subject comes through the
recognition of tests and the types of experience which come his way. "It
is a matter," I have elsewhere told you, "of interior orientation and
not of outside information." Recognition and orientation are the keynotes
of this phase.

7. Always there exists the
need for humility. This involves:

a. An adjusted sense of right
proportion.

b. A balanced point of view.

c. A dispassionate attitude.

d. Truthful recognition of assets
as well as debits.

[257]

Here also I gave you a hint
in stating that true humility is based on fact, on vision and on time
pressures.

8. Two immediate objectives
face the disciples, plus the need for one quality:

a. To integrate into the
inner Ashram as "practising chelas."

b. To contact the Master at
will.

c. To develop divine
indifference.

9. In connection with the
formulas, two reactions are automatically evoked in the true disciple and in
the true group within the Ashram:

a. The reaction which is
called the "formula of revelation." This designates sensitive
response to the ancient formulas which are given to those being prepared for
initiation. One of these I have already given to you.

b. The reaction called the
"discovery of the point within the circle."

Have you ever thought, my
brother, that one reason why you have not as yet contacted me freely in your
waking consciousness and talked with me face to face may be due to the fact
that the "circle" is for you only as yet a theory? Until the circle
of your brothers is a fact in your everyday awareness and of prime importance
in your daily life, it is not possible for you to arrive at contact with the
"Point." The disciple starts on the periphery of the Master's circle
and works towards the centre; he is apt, however, to reverse this procedure in
his consciousness.

I have stated that initiation
is essentially a process of revelation. For the disciple who is being prepared
to take an initiation the emphasis is necessarily laid upon recognition—the
intelligent recognition of what is to be revealed. This requires on his part a
definite emergence from the world of glamour so that there can be a clear
perception of the new vision; a new light is thrown upon old and well-known
truths so that their significance is extraordinarily [258] changed, and
in that changing the plan or purpose of Deity takes on an entirely fresh
meaning. The inexperienced neophyte is constantly receiving revelations and
recording what he regards as most unusual intuitions. All that is really
happening, however, is that he is becoming aware of soul knowledge, whereas for
the initiate the intuition is ever the revelation of the purpose of Shamballa
and the working out, both from the short range and the long range angle, of the
divine Plan. The revelation which is accorded at initiation is given to the
soul, recorded by the "mind held steady in the light" and then
later—with greater or less rapidity—transferred to the brain. You can see,
therefore, the true intention of the system of Raja Yoga as it trains the mind
to be receptive eventually to the Spiritual Triad. You can also see why
for centuries the emphasis of the Teachers of the Ageless Wisdom has been upon
the necessity for discrimination, particularly where the probationary disciple
is concerned.

I am at this time carrying
the current teaching upon initiation a step forward and am seeking to show that
it is not essentially a process of soul-personality fusion (though that has to
be a preliminary step) but of monad-personality integration, carried forward
because of an attained alignment with the soul. Initiation is in fact the
essential and inevitable process of transferring the primary triplicity of
manifestation into the basic duality of spirit-matter. It is the
"dissolution of the intermediary," and to this the crucifixion and
death of the Christ was dedicated and intended to be the revelation, to the
initiates of the past 2000 years, of the transmutation of the trinity of
manifestation into the duality of purpose. I cannot word this in any other way
but the enlightened will comprehend my meaning. The interpreters of the Gospel
and many disciples of the Christian dispensation have singularly failed to
grasp this revelation; they have laid the emphasis upon the death of the
personality, whereas when Christ experienced the "great void of darkness"
and chanted aloud the occult mantram "My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me," he was recognising simultaneously the distinction between
His "robe of glory" (symbolised by the [259] partition of
His garment by the Roman soldiery) and also calling the attention of all future
disciples and initiates to the disappearance of the "middle
principle," the soul; He was projecting (into the world consciousness) the
recognition which must come of relation to the Father or the Monad. This great
dissolution is culminated for us at the time of the third initiation when the
Light of the Monad obliterates the light of the soul and the material atomic
light of the threefold personality. But—and here is the point—the recognition
of this death and its effects is only symbolically enacted and recognised at
the time of the fourth initiation, the Crucifixion. All lesser dissolutions,
deaths, renunciations and disappearances of that to which the lower nature
holds and is held are enacted in relation to the accustomed aspects of
form-life, and of conscious sensitivity and awareness; they are simply
preparatory to and symbolic of the final great dissolution of the causal body,
consummated at the Crucifixion. This leads to the resurrection or uprising of
the personality-soul consciousness (duly fused and blended) into that of the
monad. This is finally carried to the point of solar perfection at the
Ascension initiation.

I have given you this
teaching in terms of the Christian presentation as it may be simpler for you to
grasp, but there are many other formulations and approaches to these truths and
the newer they are the more difficult necessarily are they to present. Only
those who are on the immediate verge of initiation will understand; the others
will prefer to interpret these truths to themselves in the easier and
well-known formulas of the preparatory stage of the at-one-ing of soul and
personality.

The stage of recognising the
revelation which is accorded to the initiate of the major Mysteries is itself
divided into lesser phases. These might be described as three in number though
much is dependent upon the initiation to be taken and the ray of the prepared
disciple. These are:

1. The Stage of
Penetration. This refers to the piercing through the world glamour and thereby
effecting two objectives:

[260]

a. The Light of the Spiritual
Triad streams into the consciousness of the initiate, via the antahkarana, so
that the Plan for humanity and the divine Purpose in relation to the planet
become increasingly clear. This initiates relation to Shamballa.

b. Part of the world glamour
is thus dissipated and thus a clarifying of the astral plane takes place and
humanity is consequently served. Every disciple who arrives at a recognition of
the initiate-revelation releases light and dissipates a part of the glamour
which blinds the mass of men. The sixth ray disciple takes far longer over this
stage of penetration than do disciples on the other rays but only in this world
cycle.

2. The Stage of
Polarisation. This is the stage wherein the initiate, having let in the
light and penetrated through the dense fogs and mists of the world of glamour,
suddenly realises just what he has done and takes a firm stand, correctly
oriented towards the vision (or to word it otherwise towards Shamballa). One of
the things which must be grasped is that as the initiate is a point of
hierarchical life (either on the periphery of the Hierarchy, or within the
circle or at the centre) he is a definite part of the hierarchical effort. That
effort is directed towards an orientation to the greater centre of life—Shamballa.
Students are apt to believe that the orientation of the Hierarchy is towards
humanity. That is not so. They respond to human need when the demand is
effective, and are custodians of the Plan; but the orientation of the entire
hierarchical group is towards the first aspect, as it expresses the Will of the
Logos and manifests through Shamballa. Just as the disciple has to do two
things: polarise his position by establishing right human relations and at the
same time become a conscious, practising member of the Kingdom of God, the
Hierarchy, so the initiate—upon a higher turn of the spiral—has to establish
right relations with the Hierarchy and become simultaneously conscious of
Shamballa.

All I can impart here is the
desired point of attainment [261] but the phraseology is relatively meaningless, except
to those who are experienced in the processes of initiation to a greater or
less degree, according to the initiations already taken. This polarisation,
this point of focussed effort and this attained orientation is the basic idea
lying behind the phrase "the Mountain of Initiation." The initiate
"plants his feet upon the mountain top and from that point of altitude perceives
the thought of God, visions the dream within the Mind of God, follows God's eye
from central point to outer goal and sees himself as all that is and yet within
the whole."

3. The Stage of
Precipitation. Having thus identified himself through penetration and
polarisation with the Plan and with the Will of God (which is the key to
Shamballa), he then proceeds—as a result of this triple recognition—to do his
share in materialising the Plan and in bringing through into outer
manifestation and expression as much of that Plan as he can. He thus becomes
first of all an outpost of the Hierarchy (which of necessity means sensitivity
to the Shamballa energy), and then increasingly an Agent of Light—the Light
universal, or the Light of the Monad.

I have no more to say today
anent initiation. Ponder upon that which I have given and grasp as far as you imaginatively
can the magnificence of the initiatory process—so vastly more inclusive than
has been indicated by any of the teaching given hitherto. After the war is over
and the new world, with its coming civilisation and culture begins to take
shape, an increasing emphasis will be laid upon the purpose of the
Controlling Deity or basic Life or Energy as it is working out through
humanity. This will be done by those who are trained esotericists. Much that is
now being said by world leaders and serving workers in every nation is an
indication of an unconscious response to the Shamballa energy. Towards the end
of the century and during the first few decades of the twenty-first century,
teaching anent Shamballa will be given forth. The effort of the abstract mind
of man will be towards the comprehension of this, just as the [262] goal of
hierarchical contact marks the present effort of the disciple. Glamour is
disappearing; illusions are being dissipated; the stage of penetration into a
new dimension, into a new phase of effort and of attainment is rapidly being
promulgated. This is being done in spite of all the horror and agony and will
be one of the first results of respite from war. The war itself is shattering
illusions, revealing the need for change and producing a demand for a future
new world and a coming beauty in living which will be revolutionary and a
material response to an intensive initiation process in which all disciples can
share and for which advanced aspirants can prepare themselves.

THE FORMULAS

Now that you have,
presumably, brooded for some months on my instructions on the Formulas, I will
seek to impart to you some of the deeper implications.

Formula One. — "A line of fire between two blazing points. A
stream of water blue, again a line, emerging from the earth and ending in the
ocean. A tree with root above and flowers below.

"Out of the fire and
always at the midway point appears the eye of God (Shiva). Upon the stream,
between the two extremes, there floats the eye of vision; a thread of light
unites the two.

"Deep in the tree,
between the root and flowers, the eye again is seen. The eye that knows, the
eye that sees, the directing eye—one made of fire, one fluid as the sea, and
two which look from here to there. Fire, water and the earth—all need the vital
air. The air is life. The air is God."

These formulas and their implications
have caused some of you concern because of their extreme difficulty of
interpretation. I would ask you to bear in mind that you are individually [263] quite unable
to grasp the extent of your own comprehension because the mind (the
major conditioning factor in a disciple's life in the early stages of his
training) knows far more than the brain is capable of recording. Later, in the
life of the initiate, the soul registers consciously for the disciple who can
identify himself with the soul, far more than the concrete mind is able to
register. I would ask you, therefore, to cease gauging your capacity to
understand and instead simply to brood and reflect.

Let me briefly summarise for
you some of the things I indicated anent these formulas in my previous
instructions:

1. They are concerned with
the six relationships, as the disciple succeeds in establishing them.

2. These six relationships
are not six initiations but six intermediate expansions of
consciousness, occurring between the major initiations.

3. They are definitely
formulas of integration:

a. They concern integration
progressively into a Master's group.

b. They also concern
integration into some state of group sensitivity, on some one plane, for
consciousness of sensitive response is the keynote of all the planes throughout
the solar system.

4. They are also formulas of
revelation. This is peculiarly so in connection with Formula One. They bring
about, when rightly used:

a. The revelation of group
feeling.

b. The revelation of the Master
as He is, the centre of light and power within the circle.

c. The revelation of the
point of life at the centre of all forms.

These effects, resulting from
right comprehension of the formulas, might be regarded as reactions—automatic
and inevitable; I used this word "reaction" in my last instruction.
These reactions are frequently, and I might say usually, unconscious and it is
only gradually that the disciple wakes up to the fact that by quiet reflection
upon the formula, certain [264] expansions of consciousness, a greater sensitivity and
an intuitive recognition of the hitherto unseen and unrealised have wrought
definite changes in his subjective nature. He does the required work and the
results naturally and simply happen.

Here is a hint as to the need
for occult obedience. I have the responsibility of indicating to you the work I
want done and the steps to be taken. You subsequently have to do the work. Most
of you, living normally as you do in the world of effects and not in the world
of causes, are preoccupied with the possible results and the phenomenal
differences (if I might call them so) which are expected by you to eventuate
from the work. Therefore, instead of concentrating upon exactitude of work and
meticulous obedience, your energy goes into the thought of what will happen,
into the consideration of the difficulties of the work, and into your belief
that no results are demonstrating in your particular case. Primarily what I am
doing in giving you these formulas is to aid you to work in the world of causes
and so draw you consciously out of the world of effects. Therefore, I would ask
you to do the indicated work, to concentrate your minds upon these formulas of
power—"working without attachment," as the Gita expresses it—and
refrain from looking for results, knowing that they will be there, e'en though
unrecognised by you, until your focus is more definitely subjective. I did not
say "introspective," my brother, but "subjective." To be an
introvert really means that you, as a thinking personality, are always looking
in to your inner feeling and thought life. That is not living subjectively; it
is living as an outer observer who looks within. To live subjectively means
that the focus of your consciousness is within and that from that point you
look in two directions: outward at the personality upon the physical plane and
inward at the soul. Ponder on this. The distinction is very real and one that
you should grasp. The man who knows the difference between living an introspective
life and a subjective life is well on the way to being a true esotericist.

Let us look for a minute at
Formula One and seek its [265] simplest interpretation, and yet an advanced one from
the angle of the neophyte (which you should not be). I will take one or two
general ideas which emerge from an analysis of the whole and then a few
sentences which—when interpreted—may throw light upon certain basic and
practical significances.

I would first have you note
the emphasis upon the "eye" in this formula. It is a keynote
and appears in various guises. Behind all the ideas lies the concept of seeing,
of a Seeing One, looking on at the created Whole. This same concept is to be
found in the fundamental Masonic symbol of the Eye of God which dominates
everything within the Temple. In this formula we have:

1. The Eye of God.
Shiva is the first Person of the Trinity, the Destroyer, but at the same time
the Final Absorber, the Whole and yet the part. This is the organ of the divine
Will or Power, the Eye, through Whose directed gaze the power flows outward to
its created Whole. In the case of the human spirit, it is the Monad.

2. The Eye of Vision,
indicating this time not the directing energy, but the conscious Observer, the
Soul, whether cosmic, solar or human.

3. The Eye that Knows.
This is the disciple who, from stage to stage, reacts increasingly to the
direction of the spiritual will and to the growth of sensitive response, and in
both his brain and his mind consciousness in the three worlds knows.
That knowledge is limited in the neophyte, deepening in the disciple and
profound in the Master, but it is all related to vision.

4. At the same time this
formula tells us that there are four eyes:

a. "One made of
fire" . . . the eye of God.

b. "One fluid as the
sea" . . . the eye of vision.

c. "And two which look
from here to there, the eye that knows." These are the eye of the disciple
and the eye of the personality. There is a clue to this in a statement in The
Secret Doctrine that the right eye [266] is the eye of buddhi and the left eye the eye of
manas—these are the eyes of the high grade integrated personality, en rapport
with the soul.

d. "Fire, water and the
earth all need the vital air. The air is life." The clue again to this is
to be found in The Secret Doctrine, I.80, where we find the words
"Matter is the Vehicle for the manifestation of Soul on this plane of
existence, and Soul is the Vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestation of
Spirit and these three are a Trinity, synthesised by Life, which pervades them
all."

You can see, therefore, upon
careful reflection how simple this matter is, exoterically considered, and how
the key to understanding lies in conscious identification with all three, both
sequentially through growth and simultaneously through initiation. I have here
given you an occult hint.

Secondly, I would have you
note how this formula refers to the antahkarana:

1. "A line of fire
between two blazing points"—the monad and the soul.

2. "A line, emerging
from the earth and ending in the ocean"—referring to the sutratma which,
when the antahkarana is completed, blends all types of consciousness, spirit
and matter, into one living whole, the ultimate Reality.